A new federal rule is meant to guard against lending practices that preceded the housing bust. / Getty Images

by Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

by Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

A new federal rule on home loan lending will give consumers more protection against risky mortgages, the government says, but it isn't immediately expected to make mortgages easier to get.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today adopted the rule, which it says spells out what lenders must do to ensure that borrowers can afford their mortgages.

The rule is meant to guard against lending practices that preceded the housing bust, when many borrowers took on risky loans they didn't understand and could not afford. A wave of foreclosures followed, helping to drive down home prices more than 30% since 2006.

But Cohen says that 43% is too high for some low-income people, who'll get these loans, and then have no recourse.

Lenders can make loans that do not meet the qualified mortgage standards. If so, they won't have the same protections against consumer challenges.

To give the market time to adjust, loans that bust the 43% limit will be considered "qualified" if they meet Freddie and Fannie's standards, the CFPB says.

The rule's standards largely track with current lending practices - which many complain are too restrictive - and "doesn't do anything to loosen credit," says Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance.

The CFPB, however, says the clarity of the rule, which lenders have sought since 2010, will enable banks to ease standards over time.

The rule will make it harder for some borrowers to get certain loans, such as interest-only loans more popular with wealthier borrowers, Cecala says.

It will also continue to make it hard for subprime borrowers with weak credit to get loans, Lebda says. That's because they'll have more recourse against lenders, should loans go bad, than prime borrowers will, he says.